Class Revamp: the new Iop is coming! 2015-03-10 16:45

Although the Iop can properly deal damage, it has trouble keeping up in a fight due to its game mechanics and the fact that it only has close-quarter spells. This especially holds true in multi-player mode, where the monsters are often very tough melee fighters. The Iop's movement spells are also somewhat costly. All in all, it isn't easy for an Iop to survive combat that goes on for a longer period of time.
 
...So we've given the Iop a makeover. The aim of this is to reduce the handicaps mentioned above by improving the game mechanics and by introducing a range of interesting and useful spells which are suitable for most of the roles it can have in the game.
 
We've removed nearly all of the damage-dealing spells that cost MP. The logic here is that close-combat specialists such as the Iop need their MP to move around the battlefield rather than to deal damage to enemies once they are close enough.

However, there are new passive and active spells, as well as game mechanics in place to make up for this "loss."
 
We also thought it wasn't necessary for all of the spells to be close combat only. That's why there are now a number of short-range spells available for the Iop. With these, it can hit targets it couldn't even reach before, and it will no longer be stuck right in middle of everything during attacks.
 
Doing damage is good, but getting to hit targets is priceless.

The Iop now has a number of ways it can move around the battlefield. It can use Jump to occasionally move around in an effective way, as well as its Standard to move around several times per turn – all for a reasonable price from the moment of activation.

What's more, the Iop now has skills to prevent enemies from fleeing. Its Air Branch can hold enemies in place while it occasionally drains their MP using Shock, directly drains their MP using the Rocknocerock spell, or stabilizes the target using the Focus spell...
 
We also gave the Iop a few skills that go hand in hand with melee character constraints – and by that we mean strategic and deterrent skills which can be used against enemies from a distance as well as up close and personal.

 For instance, Iop's Wrath penalizes deserters; damage dealt can be increased using Devastate, which puts the Iop in a good position at the start of a turn; spells such as the Celestial Sword let the Iop effectively fire at targets from a way away; and Charge can not only be used to get closer to enemies, but also to prevent them from fleeing...
 
Defensive Stance has also become a major strategic skill to spotlight the Iop's "off. tank" status. The Earth Branch provides Armor, and the Air Branch can be used to Health Steal. Defensive Stance can also be used at the end of a turn to increase Blocking.

This way, the Iop will occasionally take hits but be able to survive multiple enemy assaults while engaged in close combat.
 
The new Power mechanism is based on the principle of "the more that the Iop hits, the harder its hit are." What this means in practice is that Power gives the Iop a final damage bonus, and that every spell gives it a certain amount of Power and Concentration.

The strategic aspect lies in the fact that in contrast to Power, Concentration reverts to 0 every time it reaches level 100, giving the Iop a powerful boost for its next attack at that particular moment.
 
We gave the Iop a few ways of supporting its allies (by "support" we mean increasing the damage-dealing potential of allies) to give it a more prominent role in multi-player games. The Focus spell is useful for 6 players as the entire team benefits, while Amplification (damage gain) and Motivation (AP gain) need to be cast in an optimal way to be effective for allies.
 
The last thing we want to mention is that we added Air Branch combos. A combo is basically a succession of spells (3 or 4) in a specific order. This allowed us to insert some strategic (and also fun!) skills by way of an easy-to-handle branch.

The system is still suffering a bit as the spells that can be used for this are limited, but we're aiming to fix this problem as soon as possible.

You can see everything for yourself in the game from March 17th!